PhD position in multiscale modeling of the intervertebral disc to predict the relationship between of degenerative processes and systemic low grade inflammation

The PhD Candidate will develop in silico models to approximate the regulation of IVD degeneration with emphasis on the role of low-grade inflammation within the intervertebral disc. The work encompasses various in silico modeling techniques to cover the multiple spatial scales, i.e. from a subcellular up to a multicellular level, required to adequately model regulations of inflammatory and degenerative processes. Those techniques include primarily network modeling and Agent-based modeling approaches. 

The work contract covers funding for a period of up to four years. It will be led by the BMMB research lab, which forms part of the research unit BCN MedTech, at the Department of Communication and Information Technologies (DTIC) of the University Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in Barcelona, Spain.

Starting date (planned): November 1st, 2023

Application deadline: September 1st, 2023

Additional information and application

PhD scholarship in “Generation of synthetic data and fast fluid simulations with artificial intelligence for the improvement of left atrial appendage occlusion therapies” (GENERALITAAT)

A predoctoral (FPI-type) contract has been granted for the development of a PhD thesis in the framework of the GENERALITAAT project. The candidate will be enrolled in the PhD programme of Information and Communication Technologies (DTIC) of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). Her/his mission will be to developing state-of-the-art algorithms for creating synthetic medical images, finite element meshes, and fluid simulations significantly contributing to the objectives 1 and 2 described above.

This program has received funding from the Spanish State Research Agency under the “Proyectos Generación de Conocimiento 2022” program.

Starting date (planned): Academic course 2023-24

Application deadline: September 1 st 2023

Additional information and application

PhD scholarship Deep learning image analysis and computational simulation for the analysis of perinatal brain development

In collaboration with several junior/senior researchers at UPF and external collaborators, the PhD candidate will work on the development of deep-learning-based algorithms for the analysis of longitudinal MRI data and the computational modelling of brain development. Initially, fast image registration techniques will be applied between foetal and neonatal imaging data to characterise deformation along time. The resulting deformation field would be introduced to guide the optimisation of brain mechanical models, thus improving the realism of the resulting simulations. Fast surrogate models of brain mechanics will be investigated, based on the current state-of-the-art techniques (e.g., PINNs, DeepONets, etc.), some of which have already tested at UPF. The PhD will be directly supervised by Prof. Miguel A. González Ballester and Prof. Oscar Camara from BCN MedTech at UPF.

This position includes a teaching commitment load of 45 hours per academic year.

Application deadline: July 31th, 2023

Additional information and application

PhD scholarship in  Forgetting how to see language: Computational analysis and understanding of sign languages discrimination

In this doctoral research, the candidate will investigate the underlying patterns of this forgetting in visual language discrimination. This interdisciplinary research is part of the ForHowSeeL project. By leveraging videos of British Sign Language (BSL) and Japanese Sign Language (JSL) and using computer vision and artificial intelligence methods, the goal is to identify the key visual features and discover low-level patterns in the visual data that infants in the early months of life are able to capture and use to discriminate between different sign languages. Both model-based and data-driven methods for visual data analysis and understanding will be exploited.

This position is co-funded by the PhD fellowship program of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (DTIC-UPF), and the María de Maeztu Strategic Research Programme at DTIC-UPF on Artificial and Natural Intelligence for ICT and beyond.

This position includes a teaching commitment load of 45 hours per academic year.

Starting date (planned): September - Academic course 2023-24

Application deadline: Continuously open, until a suitable candidate is found

Gross monthly salary: 1.680€.

Additional information and application

PhD scholarship in Machine Learning and Accessible Music Interfaces for Neurorehabilitation

In this PhD project, we propose to investigate novel music-based rehabilitation approaches in which patients control digital music instruments using motion capture sensors (e.g. webcam, mobile devices gyroscopes and accelerometers) and electromyogram sensors (e.g. Myo). In the proposed project, we will investigate the benefits of different interventions for recovery in chronic stroke patients, explore interventions for motor function recovery of different parts of the body, target other conditions in addition to stroke, and potentiate the use of mobile devices’ sensors to enable at-home rehabilitation.

This position is co-funded by the PhD fellowship program of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (DTIC-UPF), and the María de Maeztu Strategic Research Programme at DTIC-UPF on Artificial and Natural Intelligence for ICT and Beyond.

Starting date (planned): October 2023

Application deadline: June 10th, 2023

Gross monthly salary: 1.680€.

Additional information and application

PhD scholarship in Quantum Machine Learning for Healthcare

This multi-disciplinary PhD thesis will be focused on the design, development and application of novel methods for data analysis based on quantum computing, in what is known as quantum machine learning (QML). Quantum computing is known to outperform classical computers in tasks such as unstructured search (Grover’s algorithm) and factorization (Shor’s algorithm), fundamental to applications such as cryptography. QML explores the potential benefits of quantum representations and mechanisms such as superposition and entanglement for massively parallel processing. Current research is limited by the state of quantum technology, which is in its infancy but developing at an impressive pace.

This position is co-funded by the PhD fellowship program of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (DTIC-UPF), and the María de Maeztu Strategic Research Programme at DTIC-UPF on Artificial and Natural Intelligence for ICT and beyond.

This position includes a teaching commitment load of 45 hours per academic year.

Starting date (planned): Oct/Nov 2023


Application deadline: June 30th, 2023


Gross yearly salary: 20.200€ 


Additional information and application

PhD scholarship in Fusion of heterogeneous information for clinical decision making.

Open position for a Doctoral researcher:

In this project,instead of learning a monolithic model, we will try to develop methods to first identify different groups of individuals with similar clinical phenotypes, and for these try to find the best approach for linking (part of) their input data to possible (and different) outcomes.

This position is co-funded by the PhD fellowship program of the the Department of Information and Communication Technologies at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (DTIC-UPF), and the María de Maeztu Strategic Research Program at DTIC-UPF on Artificial and Natural Intelligence for ICT and beyond.

Start date (planned): October 2023).

Application deadline: June 30th 2023

Additional information and application

PhD scholarship in Natural Language Processing for Sign Languages

Open position for a predoctoral researcher:

Departing from  our work on Sign Language Translation in the proposed project aims at addressing with an interdisciplinary team the following objectives:

  1.  Implement data collection, linguistic annotation, and data augmentation mechanisms to increase the availability of SL resources
  2.  Investigate current architectures for Sign Language Recognition (SLR) and adapt them to available datasets
  3.  Develop Natural Language Processing (e.g. PoS tagging, parsing, sense disambiguation) for the languages of the project
  4.  Adopt hybrid approaches to Sign Language Translation combining Machine Learning and Linguistic Information
  5.  Implement technological demonstrators such as for example Information Extraction for SLs. The hired PhD will work on some of those objectives.

Admission to the PhD program of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies at UPF is a prerequisite to enjoy the contract.

This position is co-funded by the PhD fellowship program of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (DTIC-UPF), and the María de Maeztu Strategic Research Programme at DTIC-UPF on Artificial and Natural Intelligence for ICT and beyond.

This position includes a teaching commitment load of 45 hours per academic year.

Starting date (planned): October 2023

Application deadline: June 30th, 2023

Gross monthly salary: 1.680€.

Additional information and application

Interdisciplinary PhD scholarship in Computational Modeling of Visual Communication

This PhD project will be part of the larger VSLT project which aims to achieve a breakthrough in the computational analysis and simulation of visual communication, with a special focus on sign languages (SLs), in which communication is entirely visual, as well as multimodal communication, in which speech typically plays a primary role but visual cues often have an important supporting role. The highly interdisciplinary project involves researchers in computer vision and machine learning, in linguistics specialised in multimodal communication and sign language, and in computer graphics. 

This position is co-funded by the PhD fellowship program of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (DTIC-UPF), and the María de Maeztu Strategic Research Programme at DTIC-UPF on Artificial and Natural Intelligence for ICT and beyond. 

This position includes a teaching commitment load of 45 hours per academic year within engineering degrees of the UPF.

Gross monthly salary: 1,680€.

Expected incorporation of candidates: September - October 2023

Application deadline: Conitnuously open until a suitable candidate is found

Additional information and application

PhD Position for Advance data analytics and visualization applied to craniofacial dysmorphology patterns

We are looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate to develop new machine learning and visual analytics methods for the exploration, analysis, and explainability of multimodal data in the context of craniofacial dysmorphology. This position involves investigating interdisciplinary aspects such as computer vision, medical image analysis, data science, and interactive visualisation.

As part of this project, the PhD candidate will develop novel techniques to integrate and analyse clinical and facial imaging data, with the aim to identify and display facial phenotypes of genetic disorders.

This position is co-funded by the PhD fellowship program of the the Department of Information and Communication Technologies at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (DTIC-UPF), and the María de Maeztu Strategic Research Program at DTIC-UPF on Artificial and Natural Intelligence for ICT and beyond.

Start date (planned): October 2023

Application deadline: 15th July 2023

Additional information and application

PhD Fellowship "Hybrid Learning Spaces: towards a human‐centred approach"

PhD Fellowship at the TIDE research group, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

The Technology Enhanced Learning fiels has produced computer tools to assist educational stakeholders (e.g. teachers, students) in the creation of pedagogically-sound learnint enviroments. Learning Analitics (LA) is a field whithin Technology-Enhanced Learning(TEL) that borrows methods from Artificial Inteligence (AI) and helps understanding and optimizing learning environments based on the analysis of educational data. However, the adoption ot TEL solutions suffers from an on-going debate about the need to provide a human centered and trustworthy approach to AI. In TEL this debate focuses on the tension between the potential of designing solutions to achieve a more effective education and its impact on human behavior and wellbeing.

The goal of this project is to advance the state of the art in this domain (Human-centred Learning Technologies, including Learning Analitics) and to propose TEL solutions to support educational stakeholders when they are involved in LD processes such as designing, orchestrating or (self-, socially- or co-) regulating learning in Hybrid Learning Spaces.

The PhD position is offered to a highly motivated resercher, to join our team in interdisciplinary learning technologies research. The successful candidate should have an excellent undergraduate and master academic record in engineering (e.g. telematics, data science) or computer science. Candidates should have a strong desire to see technological work applied in solving impactful problems in the context of education. The successful candidate should also have the ability to work both independently and as part of a team. Evidence of excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills, good English command, and Spanish or/and Catalan language knowledge are desiderable.

Submission of documentation: [email protected]

- Application deadline: June 10, 2023

-Expected incorporation of candidates: Sept 2023- Dec 2023

Additional information and application